Lithuania

OECD Reviews of Health Systems: Lithuania 2018

The report analyses the performance of Lithuania’s health system which has been
long characterised by its institutional stability and the steady pursuit of a policy
agenda aimed at adapting it to the evolving burden of disease. Today, even if total
spending on health is low and out-of-pocket payments represent nearly a third of it,
the system ensures fairly equitable access to care. The main challenge to the system
is that health outcomes still place Lithuania among the lowest ranked in the OECD.
Efforts need to be geared more systematically towards strengthening public health
and improving the quality of the services delivered at primary and hospital care levels.

The report will be launched during the international conference "Effectiveness and Sustainability of the Lithuanian Health System" held on 25 May 2018 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The conference is jointly organised by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Health Forum.

Lithuania’s health system is modern and financially sustainable, but delivering health gains will require additional efforts targeting quality and efficiency improvements. Many of the deaths which occur before the age of 65 in Lithuania could have been avoided altogether though better prevention or are due to diseases that could be better treated to avoid fatal outcomes.

Figure 1.13 p.45 of the report: "Lithuania has one of the highest rates of avoidable (amenable and preventable) mortality in Europe."Source of the data: Eurostat Database (standardised death rates per 100 000 population, 2014).